Also check that the camera doesn't rely upon a proprietary configuration tool, e.g. a Windows-only IE plugin, and that the camera doesn't need internet connectivity to function. Some cameras will stop streaming, even locally, if they can't hit the manufacturer's cloud-based platform.
That sounds great. But I'm having trouble finding the "No such file or directory" model you describe. Is it still available on Amazon?
Sounds like my experience with Reolink.
My problem is that this protocol is only for video. These camera's are used for motion detection, and I know of no way of receiving that signal unless you mimick it by setting up your own software monitoring the stream 24/7. I think we can agree that this is a huge complication compared to installing 'the app'.
For the two way voice chat, alarm and in some cases flood light and pan/zoom controls there is no substitute at all.
Onvif motion detection events can be received over pullpoint or rtsp metadata.
Hmm, last i checked whatever Home Assistant comes with (and integration for some other tool) did not support that. Also, all the TPlink devices I have have their IP feeds capped at an hour, and there was no good way to reinit the stream. Maybe that's changed?